Get excited! It’s POPSICLE WEEK. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, Billy is an evil genius and soon will be your BFF. He’s brought together 26 food bloggers to make popsicles this week and you better believe it’s going to be good. To be honest, I almost didn’t join the party. These are my very first pops and I’m in a group of esteemed popsicle makers like Cindy, Megan, Billy and Tracy.

Then I realized I needed a reason to buy the popsicle mold that all of the cool kids have. I knew I wanted my first pops to have layers because they are the prettiest. It’s a little more work, but I just had to. Several ideas came and went, but this vegan Neapolitan popsicle was the one that stayed with me.

I like that these are vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free. Sometimes I think about kids with a gluten or dairy allergy and how ice cream must be a challenge. Life without ice cream and popsicles is just not ok.

I’ve now joined the popsicle club and it feels good. I want to hand one to anyone who comes over for the rest of my life. I’ll be the popsicle lady, which sounds way better than the cat lady. I hope that’s ok with everyone.

Check out Billy’s Popsicle Week link for more pretty popsicles and check out #popsicleweek on Twitter.

I use this Progressive Popsicle Mold and love it. It’s an Amazon affiliate link that won’t cost you any more money, but I’ll get a little kickback if you use the link and that helps me run this little blog. Thanks for supporting Dula Notes!

Creamy Vegan Neapolitan Popsicles

These need a long freezing time to freeze solid because of the creamy consistency, but you will be rewarded with super creamy popsicles. The strawberry layer freezes a little better because of the higher water content from the fresh strawberries. I’m sure roasted strawberries would be amazing, but it’s summer and I didn’t want to turn on the oven. The ground espresso is completely optional, but it really brings out the chocolate flavor. To add each filling easily to a plastic bag, put the plastic quart-sized baggie into a small drinking glass and fold the end of the bag around the rim of the drinking glass. Use a spatula to add the filling, squeeze the filling to one corner and then snip the edge with a scissor.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight

1/2 agave nectar (or maple syrup or honey)

1/3 cup organic virgin coconut oil, melted

1 vanilla bean, cut and seeds scraped out

good pinch of sea salt

1 cup fresh strawberries, cut in half

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

good pinch of instant espresso or ground espresso (optional)

Instructions

Put soaked cashews, agave nectar, melted coconut oil, vanilla bean seeds and sea salt in a blender (I used my high-speed vitamix) and start blending on low and slowly increase the speed. Blend for 3-5 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and thick. The mixture will yield 3 cups or so. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time if the mixture seems too thick. Transfer to a medium bowl.

Add 3/4 cup of the cashew mixture back to the blender (no need to clean it out) with 1 cup of strawberries and lemon juice. Blend until combined. Transfer to a small bowl.

Add a heaping cup of the base cashew mixture to the blender and add 2 teaspoons cacao powder, pinch of espresso powder and 2 tablespoons water. Blend until combined. Transfer to a small bowl.

Add 2 tablespoons of water to the vanilla layer and mix until combined.

Start with whatever flavor you like and add about 2 tablespoons of one flavor into the popsicle mold. It’s tricky to keep the mixture from coating the sides of the pop mold. The easiest way to keep it neat is to add one flavor to a quart-sized plastic bag, snip the edge of the bag with a scissor and pipe the flavor into the popsicle mold. Tap the mold to allow the first flavor to settle. After you have the first flavor in the mold, add a popsicle stick and freeze for 30 minutes before adding the next layer. Repeat steps with the other flavors.

After adding the last layer, freeze overnight or for a full 2 days to properly freeze the creamy mixture. Run popsicle mold under hot water to loosen and enjoy.

Recipe from Nicole Dula at http://www.dulanotes.com/creamy-vegan-neopolitan-popsicles/

Oh wow they really are beautiful! Sounds worth the effort not just for appearance but also all those tempting flavors. We have vegan friends who just moved into the neighborhood so I’ve been on the lookout for treats and dinner party ideas. Definitely pinning this for our next get-together!

Ha, don’t feel bad. Popsicle week just kind of exploded out of Billy’s mind 🙂 These were my first pops, but I immediately made a second kind. Now I’m pretty jazzed about making popsicles forever! Thanks, friend!

I had a bit of problem with the flavours. I found them to be a bit soapy. Could it be my coconut oil. The cashews? I used a food processor instead of a vitamix. I upped the chocolate flavour with an espresso. That layer was the best. I cut in some raspberry jam to give the strawberry a boost, but the vanilla I had trouble with improving. I might try next time the flavours but with a coconut yoghurt base. Any thoughts? I have not used the coconut oil before. It would definitely cut the calories!!

Hi there! I use Trader Joe’s organic virgin coconut oil and that’s all I’ve ever used, so it possibly is your coconut oil. My popsicles turned out really creamy, so the coconut oil seems like the most obvious culprit for your result. It’s also important to really blend the mixture until super creamy. If you’re not concerned about these being vegan, I’m sure coconut yogurt would be delicious and really easy to use. You can also use plain yogurt and sweeten the mixture with honey or maple syrup to taste. I might also use vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean in the yogurt. I hope you get some tasty popsicles!